Flood problems persist in PCB

This stranded vehicle was later towed out of the high water on Hutchison Boulevard with help from the fire department in Panama City Beach on July 4.

ANDREW P JOHNSON | News Herald file photo

By VALERIE GARMAN | The News Herald

Published: Thursday, August 22, 2013 at 09:40 PM.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Sometimes you can’t fight Mother Nature.

That was the echo of city engineers as the Panama City Beach Council discussed yet another residential flood issue at a meeting Thursday.

Residents of Palmetto Trace, a subdivision located behind the Pier Park North construction site, addressed the council with concerns about failing retention ponds on the future shopping center’s property.

Barbara Lungdren, president of the Palmetto Trace Homeowners’ Association, said heavy rains last weekend led to flooding in the yards of properties that border the Pier Park North site.

“We’re concerned because the retention pond behind the new construction is not working; it’s not holding the water,” Lungdren said. “I want to know how soon it will be working properly.”

City stormwater engineer Kelly Jenkins said the site presents a unique challenge because it contains a natural wetland.

“The (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) wanted that wetland to stay in place,” said Jenkins, who added much of the water should be contained in the retention ponds when construction is complete. “A lot of the water right now that they’re seeing behind them, I believe, is from that wetland.”

That was the echo of city engineers as the Panama City Beach Council discussed yet another residential flood issue at a meeting Thursday.

Residents of Palmetto Trace, a subdivision located behind the Pier Park North construction site, addressed the council with concerns about failing retention ponds on the future shopping center’s property.

Barbara Lungdren, president of the Palmetto Trace Homeowners’ Association, said heavy rains last weekend led to flooding in the yards of properties that border the Pier Park North site.

“We’re concerned because the retention pond behind the new construction is not working; it’s not holding the water,” Lungdren said. “I want to know how soon it will be working properly.”

City stormwater engineer Kelly Jenkins said the site presents a unique challenge because it contains a natural wetland.

“The (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) wanted that wetland to stay in place,” said Jenkins, who added much of the water should be contained in the retention ponds when construction is complete. “A lot of the water right now that they’re seeing behind them, I believe, is from that wetland.”

But with about six months still left in the construction timeline, Lungdren questioned what the city’s plan was to address the situation in the meantime.

“Six months is a long time when you have water encroaching on your home,” she said.

Jenkins said city inspectors and engineers plan to survey the site and discuss the situation with residents at the next homeowners meeting.

“What are you going to say to Palmetto Trace?” Councilman John Reichard asked. “It flooded once, but we don’t think it’s going to happen again?”

Reichard requested the city call in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to re-examine the site and questioned whether the city should raise its requirements for stormwater retention.

“We’ve got situations that we’re all living with in several neighborhoods,” Reichard said. “We’ve inherited a lot of bad situations that are costing the taxpayers and the homeowners a lot of money.”

Earlier in the meeting, the council approved roughly $200,000 in funding for emergency repairs to city infrastructure damaged during major flooding over the July 4 holiday.

However, city engineer Al Shortt maintained the city’s current stormwater ordinance is already stricter than most in the state.

“We set a pretty high bar, and I think it would be a challenge to ask for more,” he said. “They’re already holding them to a 25-year storm and in a lot of cases a 100-year storm.

“I know the public doesn’t want to hear this, but we have been deluged here at more than a 100-year event, and they’ve been so close together there has been little time for the ground to recover to accept more water. … It’s just an act of God at this point.”

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